ELLE

Set in a remote Australian mining town, ELLE tells the story of Emmett, a young itinerant Irishman who is hoping to find a job in the mining industry. Unable to secure a job, and with only enough money to leave the dusty town, he finally gets lucky with a job vacancy at the local Hospital working in the laundry with three women. There he is offered live-in status: but not Richard, an Aboriginal guy who started on the same day as Emmett. His only hope of accommodation is in the run down Salvation Army hut, home to deranged alcoholics and such. The hospital Personnel Officer, the lonely and frustrated Carrie falls in love with Emmett, and so starts an adulterous affair. At the same time he strikes up a friendship in the laundry with Elle, a half-caste native young woman who is not only beautiful but proud and fearless. Bill the aging alcoholic engineer who maintains the generators for the hospital, warns him of a group of hospital porters known as ‘The Pack.’ They are a mixture of ex drovers, cane-cutters, and thieves. Their despicable acts are so gross that Bill will not go into detail. His main concern is for the safety of Elle, whom he looks upon as a daughter. He shows Emmett his polished and loaded 303 rifle, which he stores under his bed, and promises that if the ‘The Pack’ ever hurt Elle, he will shoot the lot and gladly go to the gallows for it.